Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Sorted by date Results 1978 - 2002 of 9679
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — The number of positive COVID-19 cases in Iron County continues to climb as the Iron County Health Department reported another positive case Tuesday. The post on the department’s Facebook page brings the total number of positives in the county to seven, five of which have been announced since June 25. No information was released regarding the person who tested positive. Iron County Health Officer Katie Hampston told the Daily Globe there are several reasons the department isn’t relea...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - In the past, graduation in Ironwood has meant families filling the upper level of the John Krznarich Gymnasium and rows of graduates in robes waiting their turn to cross the stage and receive their diploma. This year was undeniably different. The coronavirus pandemic forced the district to move the event to Luther L. Wright's elementary gym, where a handful of mask-wearing graduates would have their moment in the spotlight in increments...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Gogebic Community College board voted to increase tuition by 2.4% for local students and 2.5% for out of district/state students on Tuesday, during its first in-person monthly board meeting since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “As we look at our demographic base and our student base, any increase is going to be felt by our student base, so 2.4% I felt was acceptable at this point and time with everything that is going on,” said Erik Guenard, vice president of business services. Guen...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD - Now that the staff and volunteers had a couple weeks of experience with various food distribution events the district offers, the Ironwood Area Schools is making some changes to the schedule for the rest of the summer. The biggest change comes to the dairy distribution, with Monday's distribution being the first held at the Aurora Club rather than the Luther L. Wright K-12 School. As a nonprofit, the Aurora Club was able to host the...
By JAN TUCKER [email protected] ONTONAGON — Finances and budgets were heavily on the minds of the Ontonagon Area Board of Education Monday as they conducted both a public hearing on the budget and the annual meeting. The board faced the difficult task of submitting a balanced budget to the state by Tuesday. The state will not have its own budget — which would tell the district how much money the state will distribute — until as late as this fall. Superintendent Jim Bobula said state officials have indicated it has a $1.2 billion short...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — Area law enforcement and fire departments were awarded grants to assist with equipment purchases and training from Enbridge. This first round of the biannual grant has resulted in $7,500 awards to the Michigan State Police, the Wakefield Fire Department, the Iron County Sheriff’s Department and Iron County Emergency Management and 911, according to Brian Trekas, the pipeline supervisor for Enbridge at the Ironwood office. Ambulance services and law enforcement organizations are also welc...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — Two new area COVID-19 cases were reported over the weekend in Gogebic County and Iron County, Wisconsin. The Western Upper Peninsula Health Department has reported a seventh positive COVID-19 case for Gogebic County. After reporting two new cases last Friday, the Iron County Health Department in Hurley said its sixth confirmed COVID-19 case was reported on Saturday. Neither health department has released details on the cases. According to a Saturday posting on the WUPHD Facebook page, t...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - The Gogebic County Sheriff's Department is looking for the public's help in identifying who is responsible for burning a bridge in Ironwood Township. The sheriff's department received a call Saturday regarding a bridge over Sand Island Creek in Ironwood Township being burnt, according to a post on the department's Facebook page Sunday. The small bridge, where Camp 6 grade crosses the creek, is accessible off County Road 519. The...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] MERCER, Wis. - Anglers hit the waters of southern Iron County over the weekend as they took part in the Mercer Area Chamber of Commerce's sixth annual Can-Yak Fishing Tourament. "It went really well. Obviously, with everything that happened (with the pandemic), we were a little bit rocky starting - trying to figure out promotion and ways to go about it," said Melissa Biszak, the executive director of the Mercer chamber. Although the pandemic may...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Two more people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Iron County, Iron County Health Department officials announced Friday. The announcement comes one day after local officials announced the county's third case. However, according to Friday's announcement, they aren't linked to previous confirmed cases in the county. “The individuals are in isolation and connected to each other, no further information is being released to protect the individuals' privacy,” a health department offic...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] MERCER — The Mercer Public School will open some indoor and outdoor areas to staff and students in July, following unanimous approval of the school board at its meeting on Monday. The school will allow use of the gymnasium, weightroom, fitness center, playground and some other outdoor areas from July 6 through July 27, at the recommendation of Sheri Kopka, interim school administrator. At that time, the board will review and consider allowing the school to remain open until the start of fall s...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — With no information on how much state funding the district will receive next year, the Ironwood Area Schools’ board of education passed a budget Monday that mostly maintained the financial status quo while district officials await more information. “The budget the board just approved tonight, it assumes flat revenue — meaning no increase, no decrease — we know full well there will be some kind of change … and when that happens we’ll have to amend our budget accordingly,” Superintendent...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - Construction crews broke ground Thursday to start the summer long project of building the Downtown City Square in Ironwood. Bordered by Aurora and Lowell streets and McLeod Avenue, the City Square is intended to be a year-round space to attract more people to the city and to the downtown, said Tom Bergman, director of community development for the city of Ironwood. It is also one part of the larger effort to create amenities that attract...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County health officials announced a third confirmed case of COVID-19 in the county Thursday. The department didn’t release any information regarding the person who tested positive, citing the patient’s privacy, but said the individual is in isolation. Health department officials are working with the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department to investigate who may have been in close contact with the person. “Based on (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines, a close c...
By TOM LAVENTURE tlaventure@yourdailyglobe MERCER, Wis. — After reports of progress and accomplishments were conveyed, the annual meeting of the town of Mercer Board of Supervisors on Tuesday reintroduced a tourist-driven tax idea to fund road paving and repair costs. The annual public meeting is scheduled for April but was delayed 60 days because of the COVID-19 shutdown order in place at the time. Around 25 electors were in attendance, including the five town board members, to discuss any issue raised in which the town has statutory a...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD - The Ironwood Walmart store was evacuated briefly on Tuesday afternoon after maintenance work resulted in a clipped natural gas line behind the store. Ironwood Public Safety Department was dispatched at 1:10 p.m. as the contracted fire department for Walmart, according to IPSD Sgt. Matt Sterbenz. The first officers to arrive at 1:20 p.m., Andrew DiGiorgio, IPSD director, and Lt. Adam Clemens, determined that for safety reasons the store w...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — Michigan’s fireworks laws allow for a wide variety of commercial grade aerial items, but the limited window for use is meant to reduce the amount of noise that can cause stress to other residents and pets, according to Andrew DiGiorgio, director of the Ironwood Public Safety Department. People buy fireworks and have to hold on to them for two weeks and that is frustrating for some people, he said. The IPSD will enforce the Michigan law that allows fireworks use from Monday, June 29 to...
By CHARITY SMITH [email protected] BESSEMER — The band shell on Massie Field will be getting a “makeover,” and just in time for the July 10 graduation ceremony at A.D. Johnston High School in Bessemer. The Bessemer Area School Board on Monday approved a band shell booster project to put new vinyl siding on the band shell as well as painting the interior. “So it’s getting a little facelift,” said Dan Niemi, school district superintendent and principal of A.D. Johnston High School. The project volunteers include Dick Matrella a school bo...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] IRONWOOD — The city of Ironwood took the next step toward addressing manganese and water quality issues Monday by approving the go-ahead for grant applications for a proposed $9.7 million water treatment plant. The unanimous decision followed a public hearing where engineers who have studied Ironwood’s water system presented a preliminary engineering report that recommended a concrete, gravity filtered water treatment plant. “I recognize that this is a very expensive project but I think there...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] BESSEMER - A barber shop is often considered a centerpiece in the community conversation and a documentary film crew selected Misky's Haircuts in Bessemer to interview area residents on the topic of healthcare on Saturday. Filmmaker Christine Ryan Harland and her cinematographer James Q. Martin, of C'est Tout Films, based in Tuscon, Arizona, are traveling the country with University of Arizona physicians to record feedback from people in small...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ironwood Area Schools continues to improve its bus fleet after the board of education approved purchasing two new buses and other equipment Monday. Along with the buses, the board approved purchasing a new radio repeater and three radios to help improve the district’s ability to communicate with its bus fleet. “The repeater, I’m really excited about,” Ironwood Superintendent Travis Powell said after the meeting. The district’s previous radio repeater died in 2007, according t...
By TOM LAVENTURE [email protected] MONTREAL, Wis. — A major water system project to improve water quality and capacity for the city of Montreal is nearly complete, according to Mayor Erik Guenard. “We are probably 90% complete with it,” he said. The project has so far come in under the $130,000 estimate, he said. The only major work left to complete is a mixer for the water tower. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is overseeing the project, he said. Everything was moving forward satisfactorily as of the most recen...
By P.J. GLISSON [email protected] MARENISCO - When towns and townships sponsor annual clean-up days, residents have the opportunity to clear their homes, garages and yards of any items deemed no longer useful to themselves or anyone else. Moreover, they can rid themselves of such clutter - sometimes by the truck-load - at no cost, thanks to local governments footing the bill. Although such events typically take place in the spring or early summer, concerns with COVID-19 caused many local g...
By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] HURLEY — Iron County is receiving over $92,000 in grant funding to pay for upgrades to the county's 911 system. The county was one of 24 projects the state’s Office of Emergency Communications selected to receive a share of $2.1 million in federal funds for 911 upgrades. Iron County's $92,967 grant will go towards a pair of projects, according to Stacy Ofstad, the county's emergency management director and 911 coordinator. “Our current system is roughly five years old and it runs off Windows 7. We...
